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Geochemistry and predictability of tropical clay behaviour using different techniques

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Abstract

Due to complications in describing and analysing the behaviour of earth materials resulting from alteration of rocks, detailed laboratory and empirical studies of their geochemical, geological, and mechanical properties are very essential and require great attention. In this work, geochemical indices have been used as an important tool in characterising tropical clays and mechanical behaviour has been predicted using different techniques. This was achieved by using a scanning electron microscope equipped with an electron dispersive spectrometer and conducting statistical analysis on tropical clays, materials that are frequently encountered by practising engineers. The mechanical behaviour considered were inherent (in situ specific volume), compression (compression index and intercept), and strength (uniaxial compressive strength), and the indices used were physical (e.g. fines content), mineralogical (e.g. quartz), and chemical indices (e.g. silica-to-alumina ratio). Tropical clay can be characterised by relating chemical indices with both depth and in situ specific volume, and the most appropriate chemical indices are alumina-titania index (ATI), silica-titania index (STI), and silica-to-alumina ratio (SA). The in situ specific volume will be satisfactorily predicted by the coefficient of uniformity (Cu), ATI, STI, and SA. The fines content (Fc), Cu, quartz, and the SA are the most suitable predictor for the compression behaviour. The strength will be successfully predicted by Fc. Physical, mineralogical, and chemical indices can be used to predict mechanical behaviour, and they are recommended for practitioners working on these materials depending on the properties required.

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modified from Okewale 2020b)

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Abbreviations

ATI:

Alumina-titania index

Cc:

Compression index

CF:

Clay fraction

CIA:

Chemical index of alteration

CIW:

Chemical index of weathering

Cl:

Clay

C u :

Coefficient of uniformity

D 50 :

Mean particle size

Fc:

Fines content

Fe:

Feldspar

Ip:

Plasticity index

Lc:

Leaching coefficient

LL:

Liquid limit

N:

NCL intercept at 1 kPa

PI:

Weathering product index

PIA:

Plagioclase index of alteration

PL:

Plastic limit

Q:

Quartz

Rc:

Residual coefficient

SA:

Silica-to-alumina ratio

STI:

Silica-titania index

UCS:

Uniaxial compressive strength

v :

In situ specific volume

VRI:

Vogt’s residual index

WIP:

Weathering index of Parker

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa for the award of fellowship which led to this paper. The authors would like to appreciate Mr Akerele C. for his assistance in the laboratory in the course of conducting this research. Special thanks to Prof. Mohamed Th. S. Heikal, Prof. of Mineralogy and Petrology, Tanta University, Egypt, for his critical comments and suggestions that strongly improved the present article.

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  1. University of Johannesburg, DFC, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Ismail Adeniyi Okewale & Hendrik Grobler

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  1. Ismail Adeniyi Okewale
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Okewale, I.A., Grobler, H. Geochemistry and predictability of tropical clay behaviour using different techniques. Arab J Geosci 14, 2209 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-08596-w

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